Companies that build digital products strive to address the preferences of their customers as accurately as possible. That’s why UX and UI design jobs are on the rise. According to the analytics platform Burning Glass, the average time required to fill a UI or UX position is 41 days. This is a lot – and it means that the demand for jobs like that is high.

What is UX/UI design?

UI (user interface) design is all about what users actually see on the application’s screen – text, colors, backgrounds, icons, and moving elements like animations. That’s why UI design overlaps with graphic design. The career path in UI design is quite similar to graphic design – graphic design education and experience in product development projects are a big plus for UI designers.

UX (user experience) design focuses on studying how users move through all the different elements of the UI. For UX designers, it’s all about the flow of the user experience and eliminating any sources of friction during these interactions. That’s why UX designers need to know the methods and tools for studying user behaviors – and then translate their insights into design guidelines or principles. A UX designer is responsible for making products usable, enjoyable, and accessible to users.

What's the difference?

A UX/UI designer combines these two areas by carrying out user research first, and then implementing the findings in the visual design in the form of mockups, wireframes, and prototypes. These are then tested, and user feedback is gathered to inform further changes and bring the product to the greatest possible shape before the launch.

What does a UX/UI designer do?

UI designs of various mobile app screens to showcase the look'n'feel of a project

The daily responsibilities of a UX/UI designer depend on the kinds of projects they work on, the company, team size, and priorities. While some designers focus on tangible products such as mobile apps or VR devices, others design the overall experience of staying at a hotel or using public transportation.

Your everyday tasks as a UX/UI designer depend on your exact role and the type of company you work for. The tasks range from more conceptual ones like research, testing, and business analysis, to more hands-on ones like wireframing and prototyping.

Carrying out user research

There are a few general functions that a UX/UI designer can be expected to perform. Here’s a short list of the typical things designers do at their jobs. The initial phase in the UX design process is research. It can take different forms – from desk-based to field research. The goal is to get a full picture of the target audience for whom the product or service is intended.

How do UX/UI designers research users?

• Review of the current products or services offered by the competition.
• Interviewing existing users to identify their pain points and preferences.
• Creation of user personas, including all of the key details.
• Detecting potential opportunities based on the findings of users.

The user research phase helps teams to scope out the project, identify exactly who they’re designing for, and what the key user goals and challenges are in relation to the product.

Building user personas

An example of a target user persona created in the user experience process

Based on the user research, UX/UI designers create user personas that explore in more depth the particular tasks every persona wants to perform and why. A typical persona includes demographic data, as well as information about preferences, habits, likes, and dislikes, and connection to trends.

Another popular approach that can be used together with (or instead of) user personas is Jobs-To-Be-Done. JTBD shifts the focus from the hypothetical user to what the actual users are looking to accomplish by using a product.

Crafting the information architecture

Next, designers usually start thinking about the kind of content they need to display in products or marketing materials. This is where they consider how all of the key information will be structured across the website or application. This is called information architecture – and crafting it is the task of working out the most logical content layout and organization.

Creating user flows and wireframes

An application wireframe created before the prototyping process of the project

UX/UI designers use various tools to map out the user’s journey through a product. Two such tools are user flows and wireframes. User flows are basic flowcharts that visualize the path a user takes when using a product, starting at the entry point right and ending with the final interaction.

Wireframes, on the other hand, offer a two-dimensional outline of a single application screen or page of a website. Designers support their wireframing process with many different tools that allow them to quickly create sketches and simple wireframes that communicate their intention.

Prototyping and user testing

Once designers have the product layout mapped out, they can move on to creating the first prototypes for running the initial user tests. What exactly is a prototype? It’s a scaled-down version of the product that enables teams to test their designs before passing them over to development.

Prototypes can be simple paper models, but also high-fidelity interactive prototypes that closely mimic the final product. Testing prototypes on real users allows businesses to identify any design flaws before they invest in creating the final product. Note that several rounds of testing might have to take place before the design is spot on.

Participation in development

Once the product enters the development phase, designers are still part of the process. They attend sprint meetings, supervise product development to ensure that the team avoids feature creeps, and apply small refinements to the design whenever necessary. They also participate in designing features for new releases and analyze user feedback.

Visual design

Some UX designers also specialize in visual design – this is where they fill the role of a UX/UI designer. So they’re also the ones who make decisions about the final imagery, color schemes, icons, and typography.

If you want to know more, continue reading our article on how to become a UX/UI designer! 💡